Chapter 18. MANIPULATING THE REGISTRY WITH VBA
IN THIS CHAPTER
The Windows Registry, and working with it from VB/VBA, can intimidate the average Office developer. Mention the Registry, and developers think immediately of C++-level programming. It seems after developers get their first assignment requiring manipulating the Registry from Access using VBA, they try to work on every other task on their plate before tackling it. This doesn't have to be the case.
By looking at the different parts of the Registry and discussing what area developers are most likely to use, this chapter will take the mystery out of it.
You might be saying to yourself, “I have no reason to mess around with the Registry. Why hassle with it?” One of the first things covered in this chapter, after a brief history, are reasons for using the Registry with your applications.
Note
This chapter is geared for all levels of experience with the Registry—from those who haven't had experience working with the Registry at all to very experienced. If you've worked with the Registry by using Regedit but haven't programmed it through VBA, you can jump to the section “Using VBA's Registry Commands.” If you've performed some task with VBA Registry commands but haven't delved into the API calls, you might want to jump to “Performing Tasks with Registry API Calls.”